An animal rights activist in Omsk died on April 23 after two drunk men beat her and set their dog on her in an attack the previous month, TASS reported, citing a law enforcement source.
The Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti and the Russian news outlet Omsk-Inform identified the victim as Valeria Belova, 35.
In a post on her VKontakte page, Belova wrote that two drunk men had attacked her on March 25 — “one of whom makes a habit of setting his fighting dog on stray and domestic dogs.”
“One of them also knew that I volunteer in connection with the SVO, and they were openly shouting slurs about Ukrainians. They also tried to take my phone and set their dog on me — it bit both me and my dogs. I had to refuse hospitalization that day because five dogs were waiting for me at home,” she wrote in a post published in the early hours of April 23.
In the same post, Belova wrote that she could no longer stay home because the concussion and soft tissue injury to her head had begun causing complications.
She died later that day, the Russian news outlet SuperOmsk reported.
On April 14, the Omsk regional Internal Affairs Ministry announced it had opened a criminal case over the beating, on charges of intentionally causing minor bodily harm using objects as weapons.
Police released surveillance footage showing two men approaching a woman walking her dogs, after which one of them knocks her to the ground and begins beating her.
The police statement said a 23-year-old dog owner struck Belova several times during the altercation and set his Staffordshire terrier on her and her pets. The Internal Affairs Ministry also said the attackers had been identified, but reported no arrests.
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